MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin argued Friday that President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint his defense attorneys to top Department of Justice positions is “a reward” for their performance during his legal battles.
Trump announced in Thursday Truth Social posts that he named Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, Emil Bove to be principal associate deputy attorney general and Dean John Sauer to be solicitor general in his upcoming administration. Rubin, on “Ana Cabrera Reports,” noted that although a jury convicted Trump in his New York criminal trial, his attorneys achieved significant victories, such as delaying sentencing until after the election and successfully arguing that presidents possess immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken in office.
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“I think it’s certainly a reward for their loyalty and also for their performance. And I want to explain what I mean by that because there are surely viewers out there who say to themselves, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove were part of a trial team that lost a criminal trial for the president-elect, at which he was convicted of 34 felony counts,” Rubin said. “But that’s discounting the success that they’ve had overall with their strategy.”
“The strategy they put into place also guaranteed the president-elect didn’t have to face sentencing before the election, may never have to face sentencing, and, also, they were part of the team that argued presidential immunity in the D.C. case. Overall, they’ve been a stunning success for the president-elect,” she added.
Moreover, Trump announced in a Wednesday Truth Social post that he selected Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
“Todd Blanche is certainly a person who has experience in the Department of Justice. He served as a federal prosecutor here in Manhattan for almost a decade. And before that he was even a paralegal in the office. He was also a law clerk in federal courts here in Manhattan,” Rubin said. “He is a person for whom his former colleagues have the utmost of respect personally and professionally, notwithstanding his association with Donald Trump, and that’s by design.”
“The pick of Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Sauer, all of whom have solid credentials, are designed to calm people who would look at Matt Gaetz and say this is the Department of Justice that’s about to go off the rails,” she continued. “And I would say to folks, if Matt Gaetz is still in control of the Department of Justice, you should not be calmed by the presence of these three people. They may understand the apparatus itself in the Department of Justice, but they will be subject to direction of one Matt Gaetz.”
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